14 March 2017 – Yesterday’s short drive was successful, so we started today with the rover parked at stop #3 of the dune campaign and the rover’s arm up in the “ready out” position. The Sol 1637 plan starts out with a couple of Mastcam atmospheric observations, followed by ChemCam analysis of two targets on a nearby sand ripple. The target “Spragueville” is in the ripple trough and “Ripogenus” is on the ripple crest. Mastcam will document both targets, and will take a couple of small mosaics of the sand ripples that are visible from our new location. Mastcam also will document the ChemCam AEGIS target from sol 1636, and collect some multispectral images of an area where the rover’s wheel disturbed the sand, called “Hildreths.”

In the afternoon, MAHLI will take pictures of the targets “Ripogenus”, “Spragueville”, and the small ripple crest “Shin Brook.” APXS will then analyze “Spragueville” and “Ripogenus”. Throughout the day, Mastcam will also periodically be taking images of the target “Holmes Hole” to watch for any changes.

Ryan Anderson is a planetary scientist and developer at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the ChemCam team on MSL.

Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.